The verdict: Gary Rowett outwits Ian Holloway and other things we learned from Derby County's victory over QPR

On Friday night at Derby, all eleven QPR players looked like they had travelled as far as Massimo Luongo over the last week.

The Socceroo missed out after his round-the-world tour, via Iran and Sydney, but it was his team-mates who looked jetlagged in their woeful performance that led to a 1-0 defeat.

The hardy 536 away fans that made the trip up came away justifiably disappointed in the complete lack of tempo and creativity in the attacking of the Super Hoops.

Here is what we learned from the game in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Eyes down: Yeni N'gbakoto

The natural selection?

Perhaps the key driver of QPR’s recent form has been the impossibility of predicting their gameplan or anticipating the team Ian Holloway picks.

Ollie has made four and five changes at a time and it’s paid off. Not so at Derby.

The R’s boss was tactically outwitted by Gary Rowett; the Rams isolated Matt Smith and trapped the second ball, with the visitors unable to find another way of getting the ball forward at pace.

Holloway felt his team were ‘six out of ten’ rather than their usual ‘eight’, and this is a charitable assessment of the display.

Although at least one of the alterations made was enforced, with Luongo missing, the decision to omit Yeni N’Gbakoto was somewhat puzzling.

Pawel Wszolek has grown into his defensive responsibilities on the right but a combination of the Pole and a visibly fatigued Conor Washington was never going to provide the sort of attacking verve this system needs.

The midfield lacked bite as well. Luongo averages four tackles a game away from home - a league high - while the duo of Ryan Manning and Luke Freeman managed just two challenges between them all night long.

Future: Grant Hall

Taken for Grant-ed

Despite seeing their attacks constantly break down, the three QPR centre-halves acquitted themselves pretty well on the night.

Grant Hall in particular looked unflappable at the back and the ball was moved with speed and purpose when he stepped into the midfield as tasked to do. He also made his share of clearances.

The main issue defensively was a narrowness that emerged when Johnny Russell ran with the ball, yielding a chance for the Scottish winger in the first half and setting up Nugent to have a shot saved by Smithies at the near post.

Matej Vydra's goal came when the ball was shifted out to the left, with the midfield too deep to pick off the initial pass into Tom Ince and the defence pushed back into their own box.

Still, the R’s kept the score at one and deserve some credit for not allowing the game to get away from them.

A couple of chances fell to them late on, particularly to Idrissa Sylla who should have scored with his free header from seven yards, but it would have been daylight robbery had they snatched a point.

Future: Darnell Furlong

No need to worry

It is vital to put this performance in the context of QPR’s fine recent form and their development as a team under Holloway.

No team in the Championship picked up as many points as them in the seven games previous to this and this is outstanding work for a team with nothing to play for between now and the end of the season.

The errors made by Darnell Furlong are all a part of his development as a footballer and Alex Smithies’ mistake is set against the backdrop of a terrific season for the stopper.

The ring-rust of the fortnight off seemed to stay on the Super Hoops who have won only once in their four games after international breaks this term.

Team changes can often backfire but this remains a great opportunity for the coaching staff to learn about their squad. Sean Goss looked promising coming off the bench on Friday night and merits a closer look between now and the end of the season, perhaps starting at Villa on Tuesday.

Fans ought not to fret. The QPR ‘jiggle’ - Ollie’s choice of word - will return.